Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 204
204 people, but the whole of Arabia is now with me. You wanted my people to hand me over to you. Instead of that, they have handed you over to me. " This day of victory was a Monday. The day on which the Prophet and Abu Bakr left the cave of Thawr for their journey to Medina was also a Monday. On that day, standing on the hill of Thawr, the Prophet turned to Mecca and said, "Mecca! you are dearer to me than any other place but your people would not let me live here. " When the Prophet entered Mecca, mounted on his camel, Abu Bakr walked with him holding a stirrup. As he walked along, Abu Bakr recited verses from the Surah, al-Fath in which the conquest of Mecca had been foretold years before. Ka‘bah Cleared of Idols The Prophet made straight for the Ka’bah and performed the circuit of the holy precincts seven times, mounted on his camel. Staff in hand, he went round the house which had been built by the Patriarch Abraham and his son Ishmael for the worship of the One and Only God, but which by their misguided children had been allowed to degenerate into a sanctuary for idols. The Prophet smote one by one the three hundred and sixty idols in the house. As an idol fell, the Prophet would recite the verse, "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished away. Falsehood does indeed vanish away fast. " This verse was revealed before the Prophet left Mecca for Medina and is part of the Chapter Bani Isra’il. In this Chapter was foretold the flight of the Prophet and the conquest of Mecca. The Chapter is a Meccan Chapter, a fact admitted even by European writers. The verses which contain the prophecy of the Prophet’s flight from Mecca, and the subsequent conquest of Mecca are as follows: And say 'O my Lord, make my entry a good entry, and make my going out a good outgoing. And grant me from Thyself a power that may help me. ' And, 'Truth has come and falsehood has vanished away. Falsehood does indeed vanish away fast!' 230 The conquest of Mecca is foretold here in the form of a prayer taught to the Prophet. The Prophet is taught to pray for entering Mecca and for departing from it under good auspices; and for the help of God in assuring an ultimate victory of truth over falsehood. The prophecy had literally come true. The recitation of these verses by Abu Bakr was appropriate. It braced up the Muslims, and reminded the Meccans of the futility of their fight against God and of the truth of the promises made by God to the Prophet. With the conquest of Mecca, the Ka’bah was restored to the functions for which it had been consecrated many thousands of years before by the Patriarch Abraham. The Ka’bah was again devoted to the worship of the One and Only God. The idols were broken. One of these was Hubal. When the Prophet smote it with his staff, and it fell down in fragments, Zubayr looked at Abu Sufyan and with a half-suppressed smile reminded him of Uhud. "Do you remember the day when Muslims wounded